US President Donald Trump has warned of a “substantial” increase in tariffs on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil. The comments, made via a post on his social media platform Truth Social, have further strained trade relations between the two countries.
“They [India] don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine,” Trump wrote on Monday, referring to India’s energy trade with Moscow.
India is currently one of the largest buyers of Russian crude, a position that has grown since 2022 when European nations began scaling back imports in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Though Trump did not specify the scale or timing of the new tariff, his remarks follow the imposition of a 25 percent levy on certain Indian goods announced just days earlier. The escalation has drawn sharp criticism from New Delhi.
In a strongly worded response, Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal called the warning “unjustified and unreasonable,” noting that the US itself had encouraged India to purchase Russian gas in the early stages of the conflict to help stabilise global energy markets.
“India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict,” Jaiswal said in a statement.
India also pushed back on what it called Washington’s “selective criticism”, pointing out that the US continues to trade with Russia, conducting bilateral goods trade worth an estimated $3.5 billion in 2024 despite sanctions and tariffs.
“Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” the foreign ministry said.
Last week, Trump claimed that its tariffs on US products remained “far too high,” warning of an unspecified penalty for its ongoing trade with Russia.
In his latest post, Trump also alleged that India was profiting by reselling Russian oil on the open market.
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian oil, they are then, for much of the oil purchased, selling it on the open market for big profits,” he claimed.
Ajay Srivastava, a former Indian trade official and head of the Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative, rejected Trump’s allegations. He said India’s crude imports are based on market conditions such as pricing, security of supply, and export regulations.
“The trade has been transparent and well understood by the US. India stepped up purchases to stabilise global markets when Western sanctions disrupted supplies,” Srivastava told the BBC. He added that Indian refineries—both public and private—make their own decisions and do not require government approval to source oil from Russia or elsewhere.
